'My only brother got stabbed in front of my own eyes' - Man's emotional testimony at trial of teen accused of murder

The brother of an 18-year-old student has spoken out during the trial of a teenager charged with his murder. The 17-year-old defendant from Bolton, who can't be named for legal reasons, denies murder and manslaughter but has now admitted being in possession of a combat knife before the death of Abdikarim Abdalla Ahmed in Bury town centre.

He was stabbed once to the chest at the entrance to the Mill Gate shopping centre on a Friday afternoon. Prosecutors told how Mr Ahmed had been punched by a friend of the defendant earlier that afternoon, and he and his brother had gone in search of those responsible.

The defendant is expected to say he was acting in self defence after Mr Ahmed threw a punch at him. His change of plea came as Mr Ahmed's brother told how he witnessed his sibling being stabbed in front of him.

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Jurors at Minshull Street Crown Court heard that the defendant wished to change his plea to a count of having an article with a blade or point in public, which he'd previously denied. "The position is that (the defendant) accepts that he was in fact in possession of that knife," defence barrister Bernard Richmond QC said. "That is not an issue.

"The issue is whether at the time he was acting in self defence, and what was happening at the time. That is the focus."

The defendant had claimed the knife belonged to Mr Ahmed and that he'd found it in his hoodie while being put in a headlock. Mr Ahmed, who was a student at sixth form college, had called his brother Faisal Ahmed and told him he'd been 'smacked'.

The brothers met up in Bury town centre and began looking for those responsible. "My brother went mad," Faisal Ahmed, 19, said in a video interview with